A college president injured as he was held hostage in his office by a group of radical student and community activists. Hospital security officers scurrying around to locate and prevent an angry family member of a deceased patient from harming the hospital president. A recently released mental health patient calling in a legitimate threat to bomb the CEO’s office resulting in a hospital lock down and search of the entire facility.

These are a few of the incidents I’ve dealt with as a public and crisis communications executive, which is why I wasn’t shocked to hear about the recent assassination of Brian Thompson, CEO of UnitedHealthcare. CEOs represent the public face of a corporate brand and can become targets for threats that could include physical harm, harassment, kidnapping and even murder.

BlackCloak, an executive protective firm, has noticed a sharp increase over the past few years in targeted digital and offline threats aimed at business leaders and their families, especially those running healthcare, biomedical and pharmaceutical corporations of which there are many in Greater Boston. Patients and family members are growing extremely angry over health insurers’ refusal to cover doctor approved medical treatment, the high cost of life-saving medication and even long waits in hospital ERs for those in pain.

It is now time that local health insurers, biomedical and drug manufacturing companies and those organizations that provide direct patient care, increase their vigilance and take steps to mitigate any type of violent and potentially deadly encounter their CEOs may experience.

The first step organizations must take is a commitment to risk and threat assessment. Threat assessment is a critical process that helps identify, evaluate and mitigate potential security risks and other potential disruptions. Organizations should create an internal risk assessment team that includes representatives from security, crisis communications, legal, risk management, cybersecurity and HR. The team should retain highly experienced crisis and risk management professionals to assist with evaluating direct or indirect threats aimed at the CEO from disgruntled employees, customers or activists, monitor changes in threat levels, including online chatter, and adjust security accordingly. This could result in increased residential, office and event security for the CEO, a better trained security force, and contingency plans for threatening situations.

CEOs should be trained in personal safety measures, including situational awareness, self defense and defensive driving strategies.

By combining these tactics and many others, organizations can create a robust and adaptive security framework that minimizes risk and ensures the CEOs safety. In our present-day society where anger, violence, intimation, revenge and retribution are not only threatened but acted upon, investing in comprehensive security measures for a CEO is vital.

Billerica resident Rick Pozniak has spent four decades in crisis and risk communications which he has written about and taught on the college level